I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land.

Where Do We Go Now?

Here’s a great poster for the Australian release of Where Do We Go Now?, which screens at Sydney Film Festival next month. Love the gorgeous custom lettering (thankfully getting away from the usual faux-Arabic fonts). Writer/director/star Nadine Labaki is kind of gorgeous too:

More images from the film available here via Hopscotch, the Australian distributor.

As for the film itself, I thought it was very good. After tracking it since last year (it won the audience prize at Toronto, and has gone on to become one of the biggest Arabic-language hits worldwide in recent years), I was not let down. It sure is ambitious – it fact, it’s all over the place, trying to fit elements of melodrama, farce, slapstick, tragedy and even musical into one story about the increasingly desperate attempts made by the women of an isolated Lebanese village to overcome sectarian violence. But Labaki mostly succeeds in all of this; for every WTF moment, there are two or three others that are inspiring or hilarious – and I cried a couple of times. It’s certainly more edgy and daring and has a lot more to say than your average foreign title aimed at the middle of the road – you know, the ones that are usually about women and food. (Though that crowd will eat it up too.) Its ecumenical message is genuine and powerful enough to light a flicker of hope for the region and for the world. It’s a nicely made film too. Of all the reviews I’ve read, Tasha Robinson at AV Club nails it.